


The Maybe Somewhat True Story of How Luke and Noah Got Married

by sweetiejelly



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Schmoop, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-26
Updated: 2012-08-26
Packaged: 2017-11-12 23:18:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/496776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetiejelly/pseuds/sweetiejelly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. It wasn't quite love at first sight (somebody did call somebody an idiot), but Luke and Noah met, had a lot of sex, fell in love, had a lot of sex, got engaged, and had a lot of sex. Now comes the hard part: planning their wedding.</p><p>Faith is making a documentary of their engagement as part of her wedding present to the happy couple. What she captures on film, however, is hardly the whole story. <i>This</i> is the true story of how Luke and Noah got to 'I do.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Maybe Somewhat True Story of How Luke and Noah Got Married

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of [Nuke Big Bang 2012](http://nukebigbang.livejournal.com/tag/nukebigbang2012). Check out the lovely art by the lovely ladysonsie [HERE](http://ladysonsie.livejournal.com/50078.html).
> 
> Note that while L/N are slightly older in this 'verse (maybe +5 years from the end of the show), Luke's little siblings are not. Little Ethan is still little Ethan in my head. Natalie is still preteen. Faith is a senior in high school.

_Did you mean the first time or the second time?_

~*~

**The Engagement Announcement**

“Okay, I admit it. _I_ stole their thunder,” Maddie centers herself in the video frame. “I was two months along and cranky and hungry _all the time_. Well, when I didn’t want to, you know,” she mimes with her hands, “reject all food. Anyway, so before poor Luke could make his announcement that he and Noah were getting hitched, I was shouting to the entire Lakeview restaurant and bar area that, damn it, I didn’t want anything to drink! Because I was pregnant! Then Gwen and Will and everyone were congratulating us – me and Casey, of course – and poor Noah was on his cell phone with Dusty, who was god knows where. The cell reception was _terrible_ wherever he was. Dusty somehow got this idea that I was pregnant with _Noah’s_ child. Or that _Luke_ was pregnant with Noah’s child, which doesn’t even make sense, okay? So, Noah had to practically yell that no, he didn’t _father_ any children, but he _is_ getting married to Luke. And _that_ , ladies and gents, was how we all found out too.”

Maddie gestures wildly with her hands. “It was pandemonium, let me tell you. I think Lily was crying. _I_ was already crying – hormones you know, just loads of hormones. Holden got a little misty. And then there was Damian, who was trying to out-dad Holden. Which – impossible! And oh! Natalie was so excited she knocked over her glass of juice and yours, Faith. Ameera was _furious_. Probably because she got soaked through with the juice and I don’t know. She had a cold or something. At least she was sniffling a lot. And let’s see… Lucinda was there throwing around her ‘oh, darlings!’ She was so happy she ordered milkshakes for everyone. Even for Noah’s aunt Ruth who didn’t drink any of it because I think she’s lactose intolerant? I’m not sure. Anyway, she didn’t really touch her food or drink all night. She looked a little bewildered really. But who isn’t when they first meet the Snyders and all of us lovely people?” Maddie laughs, a little twinkle bright in her eye. “Anyway, so that’s how Luke and Noah –”

“Hey, I was there too!” Jade barges into the frame, her earrings swinging. “I probably shouldn’t have bought a date though. He cleaned out half my plate and kept staring at Lucinda the whole night.”

“He was eying her brooch,” Faith offers from behind the video cam.

“Oh. Was that it?” Jade makes a face.

The video stream cuts off there. When it comes back on, Maddie’s back in focus. “And they were so romantic,” she bats her eyes, half rolling them. “They couldn’t keep their eyes or their hands off of each other. They kept playing with each other’s fingers and whispering in each other’s ears. And they must have disappeared to the men’s room at least twice. Together.”

“Noah was nervous,” Faith cuts in. “He never had a family like us.”

Maddie opens then closes her mouth. She settles for a knowing smile. “Sure, okay.”

Okay, truth?

Noah was freaking out. Internally. It didn’t help that Luke was also freaking out. Outwardly. Luke’s hair was spiked in that lovely configuration where Noah could see each wayward arc like an invitation to touch, to pull, to get entangled, completely, thoroughly so that they are reduced to a pile of loose limbs afterwards. And Noah’s eyes must have glazed over, in that way they got whenever he thought about Luke (which was all the time), about the perfect swoop of muscles that played like complicated knots and felt as soft as …

“Noah!” Luke snapped his finger in front of Noah so that he jumped a little.

“Huh?”

“Baby, we don’t have time for that,” Luke kissed him quickly, lips dry from nerves but curved from smiles. “Mom just called. She and dad are on their way. So, I think that’s everybody. C’mon, let’s go. We can’t hide in the men’s room forever. We should probably go make sure grandmother hasn’t killed Damian yet –”

“- and Maddie hasn’t killed Jade?”

“Bingo.” Luke held out his hand and Noah took it, gave it a warm squeeze and forced himself to think about Damian sassing Lucinda and Jade sassing Maddie instead of gosh, how _nice_ Luke’s hand felt in his.

Later, when Luke and Noah lay limp and tangled together after some lovely after dinner make up sex – _God, I’m so sorry about my family. / God, I’m so sorry about Ameera. / Don’t say her name, just kiss me._ – Luke nuzzled into the perfect spot under Noah’s chin, peppering his chest with lazy kisses.

“I guess it could have been worse,” Noah kissed the top of Luke’s head, carding his fingers in Luke’s hair. They fit there and there and _there_.

“Yeah, Ameera could have stabbed me with her kosher fork.”

Noah snorted. “She’s not that bad. I don’t know where you get the idea that she hates you.”

Luke rolled so that he looked Noah in the eyes. “Oh, believe me, she does. I think it’s because I’m prettier than her.”

Noah laughed and pulled Luke’s face up to better kiss it. And again. And again. He could never tire of kissing Luke, desperate like earlier or sweetly like this, with pouts of lips tingling.

They gave in to the lure of sleep as their eyelids grew heavier and heavier. “Now,” Luke yawned around the word, “all we have to do is plan the wedding. That should be a piece of cake, right?”

**Planning the Wedding  
Part 1: Picking the Date**

Hunter would regret this. But as of this moment, he doesn’t know it. All he knows is that Faith said please so prettily, that she had this move to her shoulder that makes a guy’s eyes linger. “Anyway,” she pointed out, “Luke’s my brother. He read my diary once ‘by accident.’ Don’t you think it’s fair that I read a few of his boring emails so I can compile an accurate history of his and Noah’s engagement as a gift to them for their wedding?” Hunter had found himself nodding. 

Now he’s sitting in the darkened office of Worldwide on a Friday night, fingers flying as he backs up old emails from the corporate mail server. June. Yes, that’s about the right timeframe when Luke and Noah got engaged.

_“Any tidbit would be great. Thanks Hunter!” And girl had kissed his cheek._

Hunter shakes his head. The Snyders sure are a charming bunch. He smiles as he filters Luke’s email for ‘Noah.’ Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t to find 163 emails for June alone.

Hunter clicks into random threads and then lets out a fist pump when he finally finds something relevant to the Snyder-Mayer wedding.

And then he starts reading.

> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Subject: !
> 
> My aunt made a Facebook status asking us to pick a date.
> 
> Eek.  
>  \- N.
> 
> To: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Subject: Re: !
> 
> Mother not so subtly came into my office twice already asking me if we want to book Lakeview for the reception. Emma called to say she’s feeling better now and don’t we want to hold the reception at the farm instead, _dears_. Grandmother sides with mom, of course. And Damian is asking if we want to visit Malta. At least dad hadn’t said a thing. Yet.
> 
> Eek back. Hold me.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Subject: Re: Re:!
> 
> I think Aunt Ruth had enough of Lakeview to last her a lifetime. She said she likes the pond. Think your parents will go for it?
> 
> Will hold you anytime.  
>  -N.
> 
> To: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re:!
> 
> _Our_ pond? I mean, we had sex there. I won’t be able to keep a straight face.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:!
> 
> Luke! What if your IT guy at Worldwide is reading our emails? Also, you’ve completely distracted me from this… uh, video? That I was working on. Also, we had sex at the farm too. And the Lakeview.
> 
> Anyway, what about January 12th? For the date, that is.  
>  -N.
> 
> To: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:!
> 
> Right. Cause you’re obviously so worried about Hunter reading our exchange. But seriously, we’ve had sex everywhere, haven’t we? The difference is we had sex at the pond _a lot_.
> 
> January 12th sounds perfect. It was the first night we met (and had sex). Maybe we should hold the reception at Yo’s! ;) Not that I’m going to tell anyone that that’s our reason for the date. I still remember that first time I saw you across the pool table. Now _I’m_ distracted. Majorly. I blame you.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:!
> 
> Hey, it’s nowhere near everywhere! We haven’t done Malta. Or your office. Or most of the other continents.
> 
> Come home for lunch? We could pretend it’s January 12th again.  
>  -N.
> 
> To: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Subject: Lunch
> 
> Meet you there in an hour. Get ready. (And I don’t mean the food.)  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries

Hunter sits frozen in his seat and tries to process what he just read. He makes a mental list:

  1. He did _not_ need to know that about the Snyder pond. 
  2. Luke and Noah are having way more sex than he’s ever had, which he’s sort of suspected but did _not_ need confirmed. 
  3. He just violated Luke and Noah’s privacy. 
  4. He just committed a crime. 
  5. He could be fired. 
  6. He _deserves_ to be fired. 
  7. He really needs this job. 
  8. Damn Faith Snyder and her pretty eyes.



He ends up texting her this: _Sorry. Found no pertinent info. Try Facebook?_

What Faith would find on Facebook is:

  * **Ruth Wilson** : 
    * So happy for my nephew. **Noah** dear, I hope you and your fiancé **Luke** will pick a date soon! _Jade Taylor, Lily W. Snyder, and 28 others like this._
  * **Noah Mayer-Snyder** : 
    * Getting married to **Luke** on January 12th. Save the date! 
      * **Ameera Ali-Aziz** Noah, January 12 is a Thursday. I have work. 
      * **Ruth Wilson** Noah honey, that’s the middle of winter. The girls will freeze. 
      * **Jade Taylor** How are we supposed to plan a wedding in six months? Are you crazy? 
      * **Madeline Coleman-Hughes** I will be HUGE in January!! 
      * **Dusty Donovan** congrats again, noah. so happy 4 you. but pick a diff. date? can’t make jan. will be in australia. 
      * _View all 30 comments_
  * **Luke** and I are getting married on March 24th! _Ruth Wilson, Jade Taylor, and 32 others like this._



What really happened involved half a nervous breakdown and a whole lot more sex. What really happened was this:

Luke got home for lunch with Noah five minutes later than the hour he said in his email. 

“Ran into,” he pulled off his jacket and paused to toe off his shoes, “a client.” His words got muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head, “- forty-five minutes before I have to get back.” He turned and draped himself over a doorframe, but was Noah waiting in bed, naked, wearing only his smoldering come-hither look? He was not.

Maybe Noah was still working in his studio, a room jam-packed with video equipment and yet somehow managed to look cleaner than Luke’s shoe rack. No problem. Luke could do with messy sex against the wall, his legs wrapped around Noah’s torso, the balls of his feet gliding over the smooth wooden surface of the work table just so. But Noah was not there either.

Luke called out Noah’s name and heard a whimper from their kitchen. He ran back out and sure enough, there was Noah on the floor, his laptop in front of him and his eyes inches from the screen, like maybe he was trying to stare whatever it was down through sheer will.

“Noah?” Luke dropped down and cuddled around Noah, petting warm hands on his chest.

“We can’t do January 12th,” Noah blinked at the screen. “I was so happy we picked a date. _That_ date.”

Luke looked the webpage open. Facebook. Seventeen comments on Noah’s engagement status. And comprehension set in.

“Did you know January 12th is a Thursday? And apparently it’ll be too cold and what dresses are the girls supposed to freeze in? Jade even said six months is not enough to plan a wedding. Is she serious? Six months is almost a semester and a half. Were you aware we’re taking on…” Noah paused and Luke looked at him fondly, petting at his hair. “…like 16 credits? You Thought You Picked A Date But You Thought Wrong; You Picked Your Friends First. Winter Wedding Don’ts: A Catalog of Catastrophes…”

Luke did kiss Noah then, a hand steady against Noah’s cheek. “Hey, no, you know what class you’re taking _right now_? Blow-ga: How To Lay Back, Relax, And Let Your Fiancé Blow You To Heaven.”

Noah looked back at the screen just once, long enough to register that – holy hell, it was now up to twenty comments and too many of those comments have likes.

And then Noah looked away and focused on Luke, on how the look there was more flirty T.A. than professor. Noah let him pull them up from the hard, cold tiled floor to the soft, warm living room couch. Noah let his head fall back as Luke stroked him through his jeans, then his boxer briefs, as Luke doled out the lesson better than advertised. Noah carded his fingers in Luke’s hair and forgot _everything_ about their wedding except that _Luke_ was his amazingly kind, amazingly hot, amazingly talented, _amazing_ fiancé.

~~

They consulted a calendar the second time and settled on March 24th, a Saturday. It was eight months out, which gave Maddie plenty of time to have her baby. It was two more months of planning, which satisfied Jade. It would be warmer, which satisfied Aunt Ruth, who was still decidedly enamored with the ‘calm, green oasis’ that was the Snyder pond. (If only she knew what else flashed in the night besides the fireflies.)

Mostly though, Noah wanted March 24th because that was the day they signed their lease and moved in together. Luke tugged him back to bed, muttering, “perfect.”

And it was perfect, a perfect morning. Almost unanimously the new date was met with enthusiasm. Even Dusty thought it might work with his schedule. “At least I’m supposed to be on the same continent around March.” The only person who was still unsatisfied was Ameera, who never gave a straight answer as to _why_ she was unsatisfied. (Luke was sure it was because he was still prettier.)

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 2: Finding a Wedding Planner**

“Oh,” Jade makes a dismissive swipe with her hand. “That’s easy. I set up the whole thing, culled through the portfolios and voila, there she was: Alison Stewart, the perfect wedding planner. You’re welcome.”

“So you guys didn’t interview anyone else?” 

Jade casts her eyes downward. “I didn’t say _that_ , just, y’know, it all worked out for the best.”

“Who else did you interview?”

Jade blinks rapidly, looking like she wants to stab the question, stab the whole line of questions. “Tony. You know him. Yeah, we interviewed Tony, but he wasn’t quite right. And there were uh, some others. Alison was the best, so we picked her. Yay, Alison!”

Faith could not get much more out of Jade so she enlists Alison for help.

“Well,” Alison smiles a little awkwardly for the camera. “I think I was the last interview. They had a long day, with some inappropriate suggestions made to them from the other candidates. So I think I came out smelling like roses and thankfully, they picked me.”

“What kind of inappropriate suggestions?”

“Something about swans, ugly disco balls and stalking one of their wedding parties? Something like that. I can’t remember exactly. I do remember that they all looked like they needed a drink,” Alison laughs, her row of teeth perfectly white as she fades out.

The swans, the disco ball, the stalking – they were all true. There was, of course, a lot more to the story.

You see, at first Luke and Noah didn’t even know they needed a wedding planner. At first, _Jade_ tried to play wedding planner with Noah and failed.

It started early one Saturday morning, just a couple of weeks after they’ve picked their wedding date, when Luke and Noah’s doorbell rang.

Noah hugged Luke closer and hoped against hope the intruder would leave. But no such luck. Noah stepped out of the warm cocoon with his hair a sleep-tousled mess and tugged on his PJ bottoms.

Jade grinned at him when he opened the door. She looked way too chipper than was decent for the hour. “Jade,” Noah rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. “What are you…,” she breezed in without an invitation, her hoop earrings blinding Noah as they swayed, “… doing here?”

“Coffee for you,” she handed him a cup from Java. “And coffee for me,” she lifted a cup to her glossy lips then set it aside to whip out two books and a ballpoint pen. “ _We_ are going to start planning your wedding! Isn’t it exciting?!”

It was all too any exclamation points for Noah. “Um, it’s _seven. A.M._ ” Still, he closed the door and followed her in, resigned to his fate. Perhaps the quicker they got this over with, the quicker she would leave.

“Right,” she opened the smaller of the books - her organizer – as if she didn’t hear him and started writing in neat loops across the top: “Luke and Noah’s Wedding – March 24th, 2012.”

Noah yawned for real this time. “We have eight months,” he tried. “Can’t this wait, I don’t know, an hour or two?” He looked in the direction of the bedroom, where Luke was still warm and asleep under the covers. Noah looked wistfully.

“No,” Jade said firmly. “Luke will wait till the last minute and you know it. And _you_ are too in love _and_ lust to say no to him if he wanted to cuddle or have ice cream or whatever. _Somebody_ has to look out for you. Weddings don’t plan themselves, Noah.”

“I wish they would,” Noah yawned again and looked away sheepishly when she glared at him.

Jade cracked open the spine of the larger book and tried to walk him through the contents of its wedding planning minutiae, i.e. hell. Noah thought maybe he had it easy, being a filmmaker.

Two bleary-eyed hours passed with Noah wishing hard that they were close to being done for the day. And still Jade was poking him in the chest periodically with her pen and asking him strange questions that he had no answers to. Such as _where do we seat Dusty? Next to Ruth? But Ruth and Lily are crazy close now and can we really have Dusty that close to Holden?_ And something about flowers and cake. “I like cake,” he offered at one point and was rewarded with more glaring.

“How about this?” Jade finally snapped the ginormous book shut. “How about we get a wedding planner? Someone who actually knows what the hell they’re doing?”

“Yes! Best. Idea. Ever.” Noah agreed, feeling finally that the end was blessedly near.

“Great! I’ll set up some interviews. See you guys next Saturday!”

“Mm, bye.” Noah locked the door behind her and stumbled back to bed.

“Noah?” Luke rolled over and glomp’ed him, all arms and hair and warmth. “Who was that?”

“Your cousin,” Noah yawned. “We’re getting a wedding planner.”

“Whatever you want, baby.” Luke climbed on top of Noah properly, with Noah’s hands assisting. He kissed slowly down Noah’s forehead, nose and cheeks, down his lips and neck. When he got to chest, he heard a rumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like a snore.

~~

A week later, Luke and Noah were curled up on the couch. Luke was watching a cartoon on TV. Noah was snuggled against Luke’s hips, trying to read a potential new script. But the thing was Luke was super distracting. Every time he laughed or shifted his foot up, further tucking it underneath him, Noah took notice. And Luke’s hands in Noah’s hair didn’t help either. Not the way they clenched in anticipation or even the way they relaxed moments later. The rhythm was oddly (and madly) similar to when they made out and Luke tugged at his hair in intervals, heightening his sense of touch _everywhere_.

Noah put down the script and turned to pet at Luke’s hip where the tee had ridden up. Luke’s breath hitched as on screen the canned laughter played on. Noah looked up and found Luke staring at him, lashes lowered by degrees and gorgeous. Noah smirked before shifting more of the t-shirt out of the way. He held Luke’s eyes as he placed slow kisses to the warm skin, along the contour of hip bone.

Luke groaned. “We’ve just did it in the shower.”

In response, Noah sucked on a spot that was particularly sensitive.

“Oh, _fuck_ ,” Luke arched up, bumping Noah’s nose. They laughed because this was what happened the first time Noah tried to go down on Luke too. And then Luke moaned again when Noah licked a long stripe over the spot he just sucked.

Noah was working more fingers inside the waistband of Luke’s PJs when their doorbell rang.

“Oh, fuck.” 

“Wedding planners!”

They smoothed down their clothes and met Jade at the door.

“Ready to go?” Jade sounded a little more optimistic than she looked. After all, Noah’s hair was a mess and Luke was half hiding behind Noah looking sheepish.

~~

They walked down to Java. The crowd was thin and the promise of caffeine was strong in the air. It got Noah going, throwing him back to when he worked as a barista here, when he was still in the closet hiding, when his dad was still a part of his life. Noah’s heart pounded in his ribcage. Luke looked at ease though, ordering for everyone and chatting with Jade about some Snyder family thing. (And there was _always_ some Snyder family thing.)

But then Luke looked over to catch his eyes and Luke tangled his fingers in Noah’s. And Noah relaxed immediately. Everything was going to be okay. Luke was here. They were doing this together.

Jade must have caught their little exchange. She cupped her hands together and said with confidence, “These are the crème de la crème. I’ve checked out their portfolios. They’re awesome. Trust me.”

The first candidate was a girl bearing uncanny resemblance to their friend Gwen, if only Gwen had buck teeth, bangs and a jerky quality to her movements. “Cleo Babbitt,” she introduced herself before sitting down.

“So,” she pointed from Luke to Noah, “tell me your story. Tell me how you met.”

Luke looked over at Noah and smiled. Thinking about how they met always made him smile. “It was uh – it was a _beautiful_ night, sky full of stars.” He grinned and looked away from Noah to hide a blush. Cleo so did not need to know how they knew about the starry conditions of the sky. “We met at Yo’s. My friends Maddie and Casey were flirting with each other all night. They were exes at that point and on the verge of reuniting. But I didn’t know that cause I’d been on the phone all night with my sister Faith about some family stuff. Anyway, so I interrupted them to order a drink. Noah, who was a coworker friend of Maddie's, told me off for it in this fierce whisper, ‘What kind of idiot interrupts a reunion like that? Can’t you see he was about to ask her out?’ I might have sniped back, ‘apparently this kind of idiot’ and stormed out. He followed me and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Noah squeezed Luke’s hand. Yeah, he remembered the beginning well, how he couldn’t take his eyes off of the blond all night and then how he had shoved his foot into his mouth the first time he managed to talk to him. He remembered how incredulous Luke was when Noah followed him out to bring his coat to him. He remembered how incredulous Luke was when Noah kept following him, all the way to the Snyder pond. But they had talked the whole way there. And then there was the pond and all those stars. And then somehow they had turned to each other at the same time and at precisely the right angles. Their lips met and they kissed and then more. The next morning Noah brought Luke a coffee, to make up for interrupting his drink the night before. And then Luke had kissed him again and they had made out again, this time in the barn. And really, ever after Noah couldn’t imagine a life as good as when Luke’s in it.

Cleo was sighing at them. “That’s a great story. Your best man could work that into his speech and it’ll be perfect.”

“So,” Jade prompted as Cleo continued to stare at them all dreamy eyed and slightly creepy. “Show us what kind of weddings you’ve done before.”

“Right!” Cleo opened her folder. Everything in it was dark – dark blue, dark purple, even black. “So, black swans would be very pretty. I see a gazebo and a rose petal pathway. Dark red would go really well with your complexions.” She looked thoughtful for a moment or two. Then she grinned, baring all her teeth, “You guys don’t happen to know Will Munson, do you?”

After she left, taking the air of creepiness with her, Luke glared at Jade. “Really, Jade, really? We’re planning a wedding here, not a funeral slash stalker party.”

“Sorry! Okay, I didn’t know.” Jade gritted her teeth. “Well, we have Zoe next. She’s from Italy or something. So, she’s probably not here to stalk anybody.”

Turned out she spoke too soon. Zoe Finn came dressed in the catalog of black from Cleo’s portfolio. She strode in all smiles and can-do attitude. And then she leaned over, stared Luke straight in the eyes and asked how Damian was doing.

“You – you know Damian?”

“Oh yes. I’m well acquainted,” she tapped her fingers – draped in black nail polish, what else? – down Luke’s arm. “You see, he stole my rightful inheritance right out from under my mama’s heels. Have him call me.” She left her calling card, a Mask of Zorro-like Z slashed across the square.

This time Luke fumed silently at Jade and she apologized just as silently back, sitting stiffly and downing fast her third cup of coffee.

Noah tried to break the tension. “Hey, at least it can’t get worse, right?”

~~

Jade smiled at Luke and did her eyebrow thing. _Hey, this one ain’t so bad, huh?_ And indeed the well-groomed young man in front of them seemed full of potential. He was professional, shaking hands with all parties as he introduced himself, “Tony.”

He hung onto Noah’s hand a little too long, the pads of his fingers lingering over Noah’s wrist just this side of appropriate. But Noah ignored it. He chalked it up to nerves. Who wouldn’t be sitting in front of the impressive Luke Snyder, VP of Worldwide and the just as impressive cleavage of Jade? Beside him, Luke’s eyes flashed dangerously green. Not that Noah caught it, optimistic as he was that they might have found a wedding planner.

“So, Luke and Noah, I just wanted to say congratulations on your engagement. Even if I’m not the final man standing, I wish you both all the luck.”

Jade visibly relaxed. And Noah actually smiled. “Thank you, Tony.” He turned and smiled at Luke, who managed to smile tightly and parrot his thanks.

“You're very welcome,” Tony took a breath, choosing his next words. “And I just wanted to let you know that I’ve followed your career closely. I’m - a fan.”

Luke and Noah shared a look. Luke had written a novel years ago which had earned him some fame. And then Lucinda’s cancer had come back and Luke had promised her he would look after Worldwide for her. “Well, I – I don’t know what to say,” Luke laced his fingers with Noah’s on top of his thigh. “Except thank you.”

“Oh,” Tony flushed. “No, sorry, I meant – Mr. Mayer’s films. I’ve seen all of them at the Oakdale festivals over the years. I’ve even brought copies of them when available. I have a bit of a collection at home.”

“Oh, wow, a fan?” Noah sat back, clearly surprised.

“Oh yes,” Tony leaned forward just slightly. “I think you’re awesome, Noah. Your films hit -” Tony thumped his heart. “- they hit straight in the heart, man.”

“I – thank you,” Noah was flabbergasted but pleased all the same. He squeezed Luke’s hand and Luke squeezed back.

“So, how did you two –” Tony held Noah’s eyes too long this time. “Sorry,” he blinked as he shook his head. “Has anyone told you how blue your eyes are?”

Noah blushed, frowning a bit. Jade cleared her throat.

“Yes,” Luke moved their still interlaced fingers to the table, in full view. “I tell him all the time.”

Tony had the decency to blush. “Sorry. Of course you do. So uh – you two – how did you meet?”

“Yo’s. He called me an idiot and then walked me home. Well, not home exactly, but to the pond, where we fucked.”

“Luke!” Noah’s face was three different shades of red. “I thought we were keeping that, you know, between us.”

Luke shrugged and mouthed, “Oops?” He cupped Noah’s hand in between his hands, as if keeping it safe.

“O-kay,” Tony scribbled something in his notepad. “Go you but that probably doesn’t belong in the best man’s speech.” 

He didn’t stay long after that.

“What was _that_?” Noah turned to look at Luke.

Luke placed a placating kiss to Noah’s hand. “Sorry, baby, but I had to stop it. He was coming on to you.”

“No, he wasn’t.”

Jade snickered. “Oh, believe me, he was.”

“Seriously?” Noah stared at his untouched muffin. “Who comes on to a client, especially one who’s about to get married? And I actually liked him, other than that.”

Luke scratched Noah’s head sympathetically and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I know baby.”

Jade took a deep breath and wondered if Java served alcohol. She could use a few shots in her espresso.

~~

The next three interviews were actually worse. Noah had devoured his chocolate muffin and felt like he could eat three more, preferably with rum in them. Luke was still scowling. He had condensed the how-we-met story down to ‘fucked him at the pond.’ Noah had gotten over the blushing, for the most part. Even Jade’s enthusiasm was waning. She looked like she needed a spa day stat. Or a bar.

“Did all wedding planners graduate at the bottom of their class?” Luke lamented. “Like, do all the good ones work for the princes of Wales or something?”

Jade winced. “Sorry. I had no idea they’re this horrible. But I promise just one more and we’re done, okay?”

“Forever?” Noah looked up hopefully.

Jade slumped back in her chair. “Yeah. Forever.”

“And then we can go home and sleep?” Luke reached for yet another cup of coffee.

Noah perked up. Home and ‘sleep’ with Luke sounded just about the best thing.

~~

Her name was Alison. Her hair was swept into an elegant updo. She looked professional, sweet, and didn’t have the look of a serial killer about her.

Still, just to save time, Noah leaned forward. “You don’t see swans, do you? And you don’t know Damian Grimaldi or Will Munson, and none of our family owe you money?”

Her eyes rounded a little but she smiled and shook her head. “No. I prefer working with people who understand me rather than animals. Not that I don’t like animals! Just not at weddings. And though I know of the Snyders, of course, and the Walshes, I did not take up this interview for any other purpose than to help you two get married.”

“We fucked at the pond on our first date,” Noah blurted out.

Alison laughed lightly. “Oh, believe me. I would never judge you for that.”

“What about Noah’s eyes?” Luke leaned forward. “Do you find them a mesmerizing shade of blue?”

Alison looked at Noah and smiled. “Um… they’re nice.” She looked at Luke too. “Yours are nice, too. You’re a beautiful couple.”

A little taken aback, Noah nevertheless continued the line of questioning. “My aunt is a bit of a hippy. My best friend is from Iraq and she compares everything to how things are done there. Inevitably, we don’t measure up. Can you work with that?”

“Yeah, definitely. I can take constructive criticism.”

“My dad hates my biological dad and vice versa. My grandmother also hates my biological dad. My grandmother is you know, my grandmother Lucinda Walsh. She could be a little -” 

“Oh, I’m well aware,” Alison answered calmly. “I also know that she loves you. She will only want the best for your wedding and it will be. Best, that is.”

“Neither of us is the ‘girl’ so there won’t be any wedding dresses,” Noah noted, wincing as he thought back to one of the more horrid interviews.

“No ice sculptures, no matter what Damian says. And no pink wedding no matter what my sisters say.”

“And we’re not dancing to disco. So no balls.”

“Disco balls.”

“Yeah, that. ‘True Colors’ is more our song.”

“Okay, guys,” Alison held up her hands, a smile playing at her mouth. “I think I got it. You want a beautiful wedding but nothing crazy like swans or disco balls. You want your family and friends to all get along at least for the duration of the wedding and reception and not kill each other. Correct?”

Noah sat up straighter and looked at Luke. “You can do that?”

“That’s the job description,” she smiled. Again, Noah noted that there was no hint of crazy about her.

“Awesome.” Noah went back to sipping his coffee, making sure to lick his lips slowly as he looked up under his lashes at Luke.

“Uh,” Luke licked his lips too. “You’re hired, Alison.” He groped for his wallet and dropped a few bills for their copious coffee consumption. Noah threw in a few too, for the muffins. 

When Noah’s hand was free, Luke grabbed it and shot Alison a smile. “Jade will fill you in on all the details.” He dropped a kiss on Jade’s cheek before fleeing, Noah in tow.

When they crashed through the door of their apartment, Luke wasted no time sliding down Noah’s long, long body. He put his nimble fingers to work, pooling Noah’s jeans around his ankles. Noah’s head tilted back onto the wood of their door, his moan dramatically different from the one he gave at Java when he thought they might never find a wedding planner or get married. But, yes, they were so getting married. God, _yes_.

~~

Noah loved marathon sex. He remembered all the quickies they had to resort to before they got an apartment together. And even then, sometimes Luke had to do that thing with his hips to finish them quick so he could run off for a family emergency. Once, Noah had to clasp both hands over Luke’s mouth to keep him from spilling out strings of curses that Grandma Emma so did _not_ need to hear. He had to finish that call too, his voice coached into a cadence of calm he did not feel. So really, marathon sex is a luxury in Oakdale. And Luke, bless him, Luke made the suggestion that they stay in all day on Sunday, to further reward themselves for sitting through the wedding planner interview hell.

Noah wasted no time starting. His lips pillowed soft and harmless on Luke’s eyelids and down his nose as the sun was rising. He increased the pressure of suction as he worked his way to Luke’s mouth, sweeping morning hellos onto Luke’s tongue and down over the side of Luke’s neck. _Hello. Hi, you sexy thing. Mornin’._ He paid extra attention to Luke’s chest, running his fingers through the soft hair there and seeking out the buds of pink, tweaking and wetting with the flat of his tongue, licking, nipping. Luke’s hands were in his hair now, tugging him closer. And Luke’s words – a litany of _fuck_ and _oh, god_ and _Noah_ – were tumbling free, breathy and then sharp, moans and then grunts. Noah kept going. He was positively outright sucking by the time Luke’s hips strained up to meet him. And still he teased, running his tongue over the folds of skin between thighs and running just the edge of his teeth along. When he finally sank down over Luke, one masterful swallow to the base of the cock, Noah smiled at the sound Luke made.

He prepped himself as he sucked Luke off, taking him to the edge and then back, to the edge and then back. Luke, eyes hooded and mouth an obscene cave of invitation, was begging for release. “C’mon, Noah. I’m going to _die_.” So Noah had no choice but to bring them both over the edge. With practiced ease, he pushed one, then two slick fingers inside of Luke and found the spot, rubbed the spot, loved the spot. Luke cried out, the sound pushing Noah to his own orgasm. He felt the heat zip through him, intense the way it always was. And then he was in a haze of _good, good, mmmm, so good_.

That was round one.

Coffees, croissants, hours and hours, and a warm, wonderful shower (hands everywhere; lips kissing till they were almost sore from it) later, Noah had lost count. He knew at one point, Luke tied him up to the headboards and rode him, getting him back for the tease. At another point, Noah had Luke bent over their kitchen sink – that one was fast and rough and somehow perfect in between their lazier sessions. And at yet another, Luke kissed Noah deep as he rocked his hips forward and forward, again and again, till Noah felt full to bursting. After lunch, which consisted of feeding each other bits of bread and roasted chicken straight from the container with their hands (though, of course, Noah insisted that they wash their hands afterwards), they were almost at the edge of _can’t anymore_.

Except Noah had a very optimistic view of things. “You always say that, babe. But you never mean it.” And to demonstrate, Noah leaned his cheek against Luke’s dick and made it jump. He smirked. Luke moaned.

“You just love me for my body, don’t you?” Luke pouted as he nuzzled against Noah like a puppy.

Noah kissed his forehead fondly. Love was still a word that he had a lot of trouble with. His father made sure of that. His father loved him so much that he killed Noah’s mother. _“To protect you.”_ His father loved him so much that he tried to take out Luke with a rifle. Noah shuddered and held Luke closer. “I love all of you, more than anything, more than my life.”

Luke turned a brilliant smile on him. “If you’re trying to get into my pants, Mayer, you’re doing a great job.”

Noah pinned him to the bed. “You don’t have any pants on, Snyder, and is that a yes?” He kissed at Luke’s neck again, worshipfully, sweet.

Luke threw his head back and sighed. His fingers were steady, running through Noah’s hair. “You think we’ll make it?”

Noah lifted his head to look at Luke. He raised an eyebrow in question.

“Down, boy,” Luke petted his hair anyway. “I meant – us – do you think we’ll make it?” The hazel eyes were rounded and so serious that Noah wanted to give him anything to make the doubt go away. “I mean lord knows how many times my parents have broken up and made up again. Who knows if this time will stick, you know?”

Noah thought of all the things he could say. But he wasn’t the wordsmith in this relationship. Luke was. “Remember what you told me? That I wasn’t my father? We’re not your parents.”

Luke’s eyes lit up at once. “I’m a genius.”

Noah snorted, “Yeah, and if anybody should make it, it’d be a genius and his pool boy.” He caught Luke’s upper lips between his and kissed in all his moans.

“I love you, Noah Mayer,” Luke said when his mouth was free.

“Same here, Luke Snyder.”

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, sated in every way.

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 3: Picking the Wedding Party**

Faith spreads out the pictures of the wedding party. In the first, Luke and Noah are in the middle, arms around each other’s middles. Flanking them stand their closest – Jade on Luke’s side, Ameera on Noah’s. Next to Jade are Reg and Will. Next to Ameera are Maddie and Casey. They make a squiggle of a line in terms of heights. But in terms of smiles, they make a perfect grin from end to end.

The second picture is a little more chaotic, with bodies turned and gazes distracted. The third even more so. Until in the last one, Noah is half carrying Luke as he dips him low and kisses him deep. Maddie and Casey seem equally preoccupied. Ameera looks like she’s at a loss, staring neither left nor right of her. Jade though, wears a whopping laugh, her hands pressed in a hard clap as her head’s thrown back. Reg stands as stiff as Ameera, though he is staring straight at Luke and Noah, wearing a small smile, a bit wistful, a bit proud. Will is almost out of the frame, blowing a kiss to someone off-camera, probably his wife Gwen. They look such a mess that they look perfect.

Faith sets up the stop-motion animation and gets to work. She just has to pick a few choice captions and she’d be set.

How Luke and Noah ended up with this wedding party is a whole other story.

It was a Wednesday, humid hot the way Oakdale gets. It was the kind of day where sweat rolled between spaces you never even realized you had. Noah was exhausted from his day out in the fields. And it was literally a field, where the sun beat down relentlessly and browned the grass at his feet, where he thought wistfully of trees and the shade they offered up so generously. If only there were trees anywhere near. But they needed the barren landscape for this shot. They needed the hot, the sweat, the thirst, the flat emptiness of this space.

Now he was ready to drop. Noah balanced two cartons of takeouts and two glasses of ice cold bliss that was Al’s milkshakes. Luke rolled his head up from the sofa, his own body sprawled in its own kind of fatigue. He’d been up since six and shuffling between meetings with sharp-tongued devils and more meetings. In a gesture more show than help, he stuck out a hand and tucked in a foot.

Noah made a sound deep in his throat, some kind of a snort. “Long day, babe?” He reached a bit further than Luke did and placed a milkshake in his outstretched hand.

Luke managed a grunt and commenced sucking hard on the straw. Noah maybe looked a little too long at those lips before settling down on the sofa. Plop. Plop. Plop. He set the foodstuffs down and ignored the wet shine left by the cup on their coffee table. Cleaning could come so much later.

“You too?” Luke finally emerged enough to place a kiss on Noah’s cheek on his way to his melted cheesy goodness wrapped in pasta.

“Mmm,” Noah chewed down his bite before answering. “Good news though. Maddie called to say that there were lots of calls for copies of my pieces for the film showcase. It’d be good to get some reviews beforehand. Maddie thinks we can use them for the pamphlets.”

“Yeah?” Luke poked Noah playfully. “Any of those calls from a certain Tony, your fanboy number one?”

Noah rolled his eyes. “I thought _you_ were my fanboy number one.”

Luke grabbed Noah’s hand then. “Hey, always.” He kissed in, lips oily with food and not caring a bit. “Still, it’s nice to see you getting almost as famous as me.” Luke grinned, all tease.

“Brat.”

“Yeah, but brat number _one_.”

They snorted and ate in companionable silence for a while. It took them a bit to get to here, to spending their dinner times on this ratty old sofa, worn soft with years. Growing up, Noah was always supposed to sit at tables, napkin on his laps, one fork and one spoon, nothing extravagant, nothing spilled. Luke, on the other hand, had dinners everywhere – on benches outside, on beds when he was sick, at formal tables with more than one fork and more than one spoon, with glassware rotated just so for the best display. 

So, Luke and Noah tried formal, sitting across from each other with loads of silverware between them. It was too stiff. Luke got water spilled on Noah’s sleeve when he reached across the table to hold his hand. They tried casual, in bed, but Noah got so distracted by the crumbs on the sheets that Luke gave up trying to eat there ever again. It wasn’t until their fifth real date when they found the perfect middle ground – this worn out sofa and coffee table. Noah could leave all the mess on the table and not think about it. Luke could lean back on the sofa cushion do that thing that he does with his tongue around a strand of noodle and Noah would pay attention. So much attention that their foodstuffs got pushed off to the table, left to cool as they warmed up the sofa with their layers of (discarded) clothing, with the combined friction of their toes in motion.

Now they ate here whenever they stayed in. This sofa, with its ugly drape of “grandma shawl” – Luke’s words – across the back of it, was somehow more relaxing than anywhere else. Noah leaned back now, arms across the back of the sofa as he sipped at his milkshake. “So, speaking of wedding stuff,” Luke snuggled into the crook of Noah’s arm. “Jade called to say that we have to pick a wedding party. I mean, obviously, I have to pick her and well, I think Will.”

Noah swallowed, knowing Luke wasn’t going to like his answer. “Maddie,” he said quickly, “and Ameera.”

“No way!”

“Diva.”

Luke turned and pinned Noah down to the cushions. “Who you ca-calling diva?” He almost-stuttered in his passion. “You take it back!”

Noah arched an eyebrow. “Or what?”

“Or,” Luke lowered his face so his lips ghosted over Noah’s. “Or, I won’t ride you the way I know you want me to right now. I won’t,” he pried Noah’s hands off the back of his thighs, “let you tug the plug out of me, slow and slippery and perfect.”

Noah flushed red and licked his lips. It took him a second but he managed to croak, “You’re gonna have to try harder, Snyder.”

Luke flashed him a grin, both pleased and devious. He kissed Noah thoroughly, tongue skillful and warm, a hand cradling the back of Noah’s neck, a thumb rubbing along Noah’s jaw line. He kissed down Noah’s throat, a little suction trail highlighting how sensitive Noah was here and here and _here_. When Luke slipped a hand down over Noah’s chest and drew tiny circles over his shirt pocket, Noah finally gave in. “Nnghn, you win.”

Luke would have laughed, except he was so far gone too. He fit his mouth over Noah’s, kissing in earnest as Noah’s arms wrapped around him tight. There was little talking after that.

When Luke finally called Jade back about the wedding party, he regretted it. Why didn’t he just stay in bed with Noah? It wasn’t even Saturday. It wasn’t wedding planning day.

“What do you mean that won’t work?”

Jade took a long breath, in that I’m really trying to be patient with you Luke because you’re my cousin and I love you kind of way. And then she snapped at him. “Look, you can’t have Maddie without Casey. They’re glued at the hips, God help me. And since you have Casey, that’s an uneven number and it won’t look right for the pictures. You need another guy.”

“I don’t know, Jade. Ethan’s the ring bearer so he can’t do this. And I’d ask Aaron except he’s not sure if he can make it the last time I talked to him. I can’t ask dad because Damian would throw a fit. And I can’t have Damian too -”

“Of course not!” Jade cut him off. “Look, don’t you have friends or something?”

Luke thought about it. “It’s not like I could ask Kevin or would -” He sighed as Noah squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. “Oh! How about Noah’s colleague from WOAK?”

“The one you insulted once because you thought he made a satire when he didn’t?”

“Crap.”

Noah petted Luke fondly and commiserated. “Hey, what about Reg?”

Luke stared at Noah so hard his mouth dropped open. “My- you want me to invite my ex?”

“Your _friend_ ,” Noah corrected.

“Are you sure?” Luke put down the phone, a loud thump on the table which startled Jade and made her yelp, not that he was paying much attention to her.

“Hey, I’ll be _marrying_ you. I promise I won’t fly into a jealous fit.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s kinda hot when you get possessive.”

“I could hear you!” Jade reminded them.

“Bye Jade! Love you.” Luke hung up before she could respond. “Now,” he ran his hands over Noah’s shoulders, appreciating the solid muscles underneath, “where were we?”

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 4: Official Engagement Announcement**

“So,” Faith looks Reg straight in the eyes. “Tell me how bad it was.”

Reg fidgets in his chair – _why_ did he agree to meet with Faith here on her turf? – and takes another sip of his water. “I don’t think it was that bad actually.”

Faith says nothing but fixes him with her steady stare.

Reg gives up. Faith has the same trick to her eyes that her brother does. Luke could always get his way with his eyes too. With his many things actually, but that’s all such a long time ago. 

“Well… as you know, the news of their engagement ended up in _The Intruder_ and on Oakdale ONTD and of course, the WOAK. That segment somehow leaked to Chicago and then went national and ended up in ONTD.”

“Yeees?”

“Okay, so there was a little bit of a controversy with me and Luke but it was all rumors, nothing real.”

“What were the rumors?”

“Faith, you read them, too!”

She stares at him silently.

“Just – okay,” Reg wipes a hand over his forehead and starts again. “The truth is that Luke had just seen their engagement announcement in the paper and asked to meet me. He said he wanted to ask for my blessing and for me to join their wedding party. And you know how hands-on Luke gets. He covered my hand with his at one point and thanked me for ‘even-ing out the wedding pictures,’ whatever that means. Nothing else was going on, I swear.”

“But they made it look like Luke was cheating on Noah.”

Reg sighed. “He wasn’t. Luke’s crazy about Noah.”

“So there really wasn’t anything going on - ?”

“I… admit I still harbored some latent feelings for Luke, but I didn’t act on them. And he had clearly moved on. I wished him luck.”

Reg wasn’t the only one who wished them luck. First though, Aunt Ruth called to ask if anyone beyond immediate family was ever going to find out about the engagement. “An official engagement announcement, dear. I talked to Lily and Lucinda and they agree you need one in the papers.”

Noah had frowned about it and wondered what people wrote in such things. _Luke E. Snyder is engaged to Noah Mayer._ Surely that seemed too brief? But what else did people put in these things? Turned out they would have two.

Lucinda was first:  
 _Lucinda Walsh is proud to announce the engagement of her grandson Luke Eduardo Snyder, son of Lily Walsh Snyder and Holden Snyder to Noah Mayer, son of Colonel Winston Mayer and Charlene Wilson, nephew of Ruth Wilson, god-son of Dusty Donovan. Luke is president of the Luke Snyder Foundation charity, vice president of Worldwide Industries, and author of the acclaimed novel_ Invisible. _Noah is a budding filmmaker with acclaimed shorts to his name such as_ The Colonel, Back In Iraq, _and_ Same Here. _A March wedding is planned._

A day later, Damian countered with his:  
 _Damian Grimaldi is proud to announce the engagement of his and Lily Snyder’s son Luciano Eduardo Grimaldi Snyder to Noah Mayer, son of Colonel Winston Mayer and Charlene Wilson. Luke is heir of Grimaldi Shippings, vice president of Worldwide Industries, and President of the Luke Snyder Foundation. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller_ Invisible. _Noah is an up-and-coming young filmmaker, with acclaimed shorts such as_ The Colonel, Same Here, _and_ Back In Iraq. _Their wedding will take place in March._

That was when all hell broke loose. The second day, that was. An anonymous poster submitted to Oakdale ONTD the now infamous photo of Luke’s hand on Reg’s alongside both engagement announcements. The headline? _Is Luke’s Grimaldi Side Coming to Light?_

Noah sat, at home, frozen, as the phone rang off the hook. Over and over their voicemail message played. “Hi! You’ve reached Luke and (Noah). We are not here right now (probably) but we’ll be here later (probably). So, leave us a message (now) and we’ll get back to you (soon). Probably.”

Noah remembered vividly the day they recorded that message, not long after they moved in together. They had cracked up after hitting off the record button. “Okay, let’s see if that even worked,” Luke licked his lips and looked adorable as he frowned over the instruction manual. Noah couldn’t help putting his hands on Luke’s waist and turning him and crowding him against the support column that separated their kitchen and living room. Noah couldn’t help lowering his lips slow to Luke’s, just a brush of breaths at first. “Our first message,” he marveled against Luke’s mouth.

“Together, yeah.” Luke grinned back, his dimples standing out like starlight, completing the picture.

Noah saved that image, saved it to his Luke vault. “I love you,” he blurted ungracefully, earnestly.

Luke kissed him in response, lips pressing sweet and slow against his, as his body wrapped sinewy around Noah’s. One kiss grew into two, three. Three kisses grew to ten. Soon, they’ve lost count as they gripped onto each other harder, rutting against the half wall. They fumbled with buttons and zippers, their elbows hitting errant objects - wall, plastic cup on the ledge, hanging plant - as they went. By the time Noah’s got Luke half spread over the counter, by the time Noah had kissed his way down Luke’s neck and chest and belly, by the time Luke was about broke from curses, Luke’s elbow dug into a button on their new answering machine. Their message started anew. “Hi! You’ve reached Luke and (Noah). We are not here right now (probably) but we’ll be here later (probably). So, leave us a message (now) and we’ll get back to you (soon). Probably.”

The _probably_ s were so appropriate in that moment that they decided on a grin to leave it forever. And then oh god, who cared about phones, y’know, when Noah was doing _that_ and Luke was straining, his whole body arching up like _that_?

Right now though, right now Noah wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or laugh listening to media after media contacts leaving messages for them to call back for an exclusive interview.

Then came a message he couldn’t ignore, a message from a certain pregnant woman, his best movie buddy, Maddie. “Noah,” she sounded almost calm. “Pick up. I know you’re there. Are you freaking out? Don’t freak out, okay? But pick up the phone or I swear I’ll march over there and personally…”

“Hello?”

“Noah, thank god,” Maddie chattered on as if she were on ten bars of chocolate. (Which he wouldn’t put it past her to be hopped up on actually.) “I knew you knew when I couldn’t get through to you on your cell. Don’t worry though. Just because these _rumors_ are all over the net and airwave and TV too doesn’t mean your lives are coming to a stop.”

“Thanks for that calming tidbit, Maddie.” Noah tucked himself harder into a small ball on the sofa.

“Sorry! But Noah, it’s just gossip. You know that, right? Luke – Luke’s _crazy_ about you.”

“No, I-I know that.” Still, Noah had to admit it felt better hearing it from Maddie. “I just… I just never knew how much of a celebrity he was. I mean, they’re talking about him like he’s some starlet gone wild.”

Maddie laughed, a clear tinkle of a sound. “Yeah, yeah, that’s our Luke. Ooo! Holding hands with his friend. Ooo!”

Noah had to snort at that. Thank god for Maddie. Belatedly he remembered Luke’s advice about saying what he thought out loud sometimes. “Thanks Maddie.”

“Yeah, yeah, you owe me Chinese.”

“Anytime.”

“More like _all_ the time, man,” Casey cut in.

“Sorry, you’re on speaker! I need my hands for-for stuff.”

“Ice cream and crackers,” Casey supplied helpfully.

“ _Anyway_ , I just wanted to check in with you, Noah. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Thank you Maddie.”

Luke called him a second later. “Noah, it’s me. I just got out of my meeting and checked the news. Baby, it was nothing I swear. I just asked him to join our wedding party before Jade strangles me. And you know Jade. She would totally do it…”

Noah answered the call, relief pouring down his spine from Luke’s voice. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Luke smiled into the phone. Noah could hear it. He could always hear it. It surprised him the first time how expressive Luke was even over the phone. He was expressive now, concerned and loving all at once. “You haven’t hit the CD of woes, have you?”

“The what?”

“You know. Your Adele and Amy Winehouse playlist.”

“Shut up.”

“I love you. I love you and I can’t wait to get married to you, Noah. All this BS will die down soon, I promise.”

“Well, if you promise…”

“I’ll be home in fifteen. Do you want anything?”

“Yeah,” Noah admitted quietly. “I want you.”

Luke made it home in under fifteen and Noah didn’t even have it in him to chide him for speeding. Luke de-media’ed them, unplugging the laptops and the phone and turned off his own cell as well.

They ate leftover pizza from the fridge and washed it down with root beer. They sat on the couch and relaxed, watching _Mama Mia!_ for the umpteenth time.

“What’s your perfect, ideal wedding?” Luke asked as the credit rolled. “Like, if you could put all of our families and friends and everyone else’s demands out of the way. What would _you_ want, Noah?”

Noah shifted so that Luke could fit in his lap better. “You remember that one date we had at the Snyder pond? The one where we talked for the longest time about your dreams and mine? You told me the water would be cool and it was. It was perfect, floating between earth and sky with just you. It felt infinite, like anything can happen. I think I’d like that, something small, maybe at night. What about you?”

Luke squeezed Noah’s fingers as he leaned back against Noah’s chest. “I don’t know. I like your perfect wedding. I’d like to be there.”

“Dork, it’s no wedding if you’re not there.”

“Oh dork yourself.” Luke turned and tackled Noah, play wrestling. And just like that, the day fell away completely, the world and all their prying eyes. There was just Luke and Noah and the night wrapped around them.

Or, well, to be more precise, it was Luke’s legs wrapped around Noah’s waist and back as Noah carried him to their bed. 

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 5: Guest List and Invitations**

“It started off great actually,” Alison says. “All the wedding party was present at Luke and Noah’s one Saturday for a bit of planning. I said that we needed to figure out the guest list.”

She smiles and rolls her eyes a bit. “Noah was so cute. He said well, all of you of course. And I had to tell him that yes, the wedding party is usually assumed to be part of the wedding. But who else are they going to invite. And it didn’t seem like they had much of a list. So, Jade said she was going to get with Lily and Ruth to figure it out. They huffed but agreed. And then we got on the invitations…”

She takes a deep breath. “That went a little less well…”

Things were going a little less well in general, in Noah’s opinion. Their Saturdays were stolen. No longer were there a few precious hours to sleep in. No longer were there opportunities to wake up kissing Luke in leisure, touching Luke in leisure, rocking with Luke slow and deep murmuring sleepy words of utter truths.

Their wedding party (sometimes minus one or two) was always there too early, crowding them, eating their food, saying yes where they wanted to say no. This particular day, Maddie was digging deep into their bowl of grapes. Casey joined her so she wouldn’t be lonely. Reg sat stiffly beside Jade. Will sat sprawled on the sofa with Luke and Noah, his arm along the back, picking at the fringes of the grandma shawl. Ameera, on the other side of Noah, was seated too close to the sharp little snack forks for Luke’s comfort. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes every so often and sighed. Noah was no happier. Alison and Jade were still going on.

“Let’s talk invitations,” Alison tapped a finger on her iPad. “Traditionally, both party’s full names are displayed on the invitations. So, Luke, you are…?”

“Luciano Eduardo Snyder. Can’t I go with Luke?”

“Well…” Alison hesitated.

“That’s not the tradition, Luke,” Jade cut in.

“You just called me Luke, not Luciano.”

“Not the point, _Luciano_!”

“Okay, guys!” Alison put up a hand. “Luke, do you _strongly_ oppose to using Luciano for the invitations?”

“No… I mean, not strongly…”

“Okay, great,” Alison tapped again at her screen. “And Noah? Your full name?”

“Noah W. Mayer,” he said reluctantly. He hadn’t used his middle name since probably middle school.

“Full name, Noah,” Jade prompted before Alison could. “What does the W stand for?”

Noah muttered it under his breath as Luke drew comforting circles along his back.

“What’s that?”

“Winnie, okay? My father thought it would be cute to name me after him except using _that_ nickname.”

Jade burst out laughing, not mindful at all of the blush on Noah’s face or the shadow that’s crossed it from mentioning his father.

Maddie openly gawked while Casey and Will barely suppressed their laughter. Alison was busy writing.

Luke and Ameera found themselves in the weird circumstance of being on the same side for once. They shared a look, horrified on Noah’s behalf. “Okay, that’s enough. Everybody out,” Luke began by dragging Will up with him from the sofa.

“C’mon, man, go home and feed your wife.” Luke pushed Casey out too and hooked his arm around Maddie’s to pull her away from the Nutella spread. “Love you, Mads. Bye.”

When at last he shut the front door firmly and made it back to the sofa, Noah had the faraway look locked on his face. Thinking about his father always got him that way. Luke wrapped his arms around Noah and rocked him. “He only gave you his names,” Luke kissed at Noah’s ear gently. “He didn’t give you his heart.” And Noah covered Luke’s hand with his and rocked with him.

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 6: Choosing Colors**

Lily brushes her hand down the curtain of hair one more time.

“Mom! I’m not on camera. You are. Please stop touching my hair.”

Lily sighs. “You used to love when I brush your hair.” All the same, she lets her hands fall and folds them in her lap.

Faith tries really hard not to roll her eyes. “I love you mom, but Luke, Noah? Wedding colors?” She prompts helpfully.

Lily smiles, proud mama writ all over her face. “Right! You know what? I think I still have a copy of the emails when we first talked about it.”

It takes another half an hour but Lily finds them and prints out the correspondence. “Here you go. Oh, my babies are growing up so fast,” she sighs.

Faith takes it as her cue to leave. “You’re the best, mom. I’ll see you later.”

> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: longlostvixen@hotmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: colors???
> 
> Dear Luke and Noah,  
>  Us girls in the wedding party were talking colors. We want to start looking at dresses and need to know what color scheme to work with. Please choose and get back to us soon!
> 
> Love,  
>  Jade
> 
> To: longlostvixen@hotmail.com, videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: colors???
> 
> Jade, everyone,  
>  This is not Saturday. I’m working. Noah’s working. Colors will have to wait.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: longlostvixen@hotmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: colors???
> 
> Oh come on! Noah’s a visual artist. Colors should be a piece of cake.  
>  -J.
> 
> To: longlostvixen@hotmail.com, videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: colors???
> 
> Noah is a busy visual artist. Preparing for his show case, remember? Sorry babes, your little color theme problem will have to wait.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com, videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: colors???
> 
> Luke Snyder! Is this not your wedding as well? How can you be so cavalier about this? And please refrain from the sexist term ‘babes.’
> 
> Noah, dear, surely you have a minute to spare in between your visits with your fiancé. You can do all of that later on your honeymoon.
> 
> Peace and Love,  
>  Ruth
> 
> To: ruth.wilson@gmail.com, Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: colors???
> 
> Aunt Ruth! I’m not – it’s not what you think! I’m really actually at the studio right now, editing. I promise to think about this when I take my lunch break.  
>  -N.
> 
> To: ruth.wilson@gmail.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com, videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: colors???
> 
> Sorry, aunt Ruth. I did not mean to offend. :-(
> 
> I promise to talk to Noah soon about colors and get back to you all. But honestly, you would look good in anything.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, videomagic@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: longlostvixen@hotmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: lmao!!
> 
> :D  
>  -J.
> 
> To: longlostvixen@hotmail.com, videomagic@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: lmao!!
> 
> Really, Jade? Really? You don’t want to end up in pink, do you?  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: longlostvixen@hotmail.com, videomagic@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: lmao!!
> 
> Hey, you’d hate pink more than I would. ;)  
>  Bet Noah really is there right now, huh?  
>  -J.
> 
> To: longlostvixen@hotmail.com, videomagic@gmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: lmao!!
> 
> Jade, if Noah were here right now, I wouldn’t have hands to type this.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: lmao!!
> 
> Luke! Don’t encourage her.  
>  Miss you,  
>  -N.
> 
> To: videomagic@gmail.com, Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: maddiemads@gmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: lmao!!
> 
> Guys,  
>  I love you. Really, I do. But unless the next email in this thread is actually about colors, I’m going to mark all of your addresses as spam.
> 
> Love,  
>  Mads
> 
> To: maddiemads@gmail.com, Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Color scheme
> 
> All,  
>  Thanks for your patience. Luke and I have chosen our colors. Since our wedding will be in spring, we thought it would be fitting to do pastel green, light blue and chocolate (since Luke thinks March is close enough to Easter and he thinks chocolate when he thinks Easter).
> 
> More details to come. It’s back to work for me,  
>  -N.
> 
> To: videomagic@gmail.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: longlostvixen@hotmail.com  
>  Cc: Alison.Stewart@weddingbliss.com, maddiemads@gmail.com, Lily.W.Snyder@worldwide.com, ameera.ali.aziz@yahoo.com, gwenandwill@gmail.com, c.hughes@memorial.org  
>  Subject: Re: Color scheme
> 
> Your eyes colors + chocolate! Aww, how sweet. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?  
>  -J.

Had Faith the whole conversation, she would have seen this:

> To: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Subject:
> 
> Miss you too, baby. But maybe we should actually think about colors? I don’t want anything to happen to Maddie’s baby. She’s stressed enough as it is these days. Btw, totally getting an image of you here, under my desk. *smirk*  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Subject: Re:
> 
> I’d love to see you try smirking when you’re on an international call and have your dick down my throat.
> 
> *smirk*
> 
> I’ve thought about colors already. Just wanted to make Jade sweat a little. :P What do you say to light blue (like that shirt you like on me so much) and pastel green (like the pond and your eyes)? They’re both spring colors.  
>  -N.
> 
> To: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  From: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com  
>  Subject: Re: Re: smiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirk
> 
> You’re killing me here. I have a meeting in 5 but I wish I were meeting you in 5 instead. *smirk smirk smirk*
> 
> Add chocolate and we’re good. It’ll be close to Easter, which y’know, means chocolate is imperative.  
>  -L.
> 
> Luke E. Snyder  
>  VP, Worldwide Industries
> 
> To: Luke.E.Snyder@worldwide.com, longlostvixen@hotmail.com, ruth.wilson@gmail.com  
>  From: videomagic@gmail.com  
>  Subject: Re: Re: Re: smiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirk
> 
> Your wish would be my command but alas I can’t get away today. Someday though, I promise.
> 
> Re: color - did Ethan put you up to this? But I like it. Adding chocolate to the list. I’ll email back before my aunt makes any more insinuations about us!! Love you.  
>  -N.

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 7: Choosing Locations**

Jade sighs. “You would think Oakdale is just this small subset of locations, just enough for a television show or something. But it’s actually got many charming locations, romantic, whimsical locations that would be perfect for a wedding. But the boys didn’t like them. What can I say? There were lots of wasted car trips.”

“Where did you go, for example?”

“Well, for example, Noah’s Aunt Ruth really pushed for an outdoor location, since she’s into that whole communion with nature thing. So, we found this pretty meadow, which has an old wall in the middle of it left over from an old church. It’s basically a historic ruin. Soooo romantic. But Luke and Noah just shook their heads in unison.”

“Why?”

“They thought it was too far out in the middle of nowhere and that if it were to rain, they’d be screwed – uh, stranded.”

“Where else?”

“Alison and I thought it would be awesome to rent a yacht and get them married on the water. But they thought it was easier not to deal with motion sickness or accidents – since we were going to have kids at the wedding, Ethan included.”

“So did you look at indoor locations as well?”

“Sure, Alison found this charming old movie theatre. I thought with Noah’s background that he’d love it. But boy, let me tell you, he did not love it.”

“Why not?”

“Well, he was adamant that his wedding didn’t disrupt the showing of movies. He said if it were his theater that stopped being a theater for a day for this event, he’d be so bummed.” Jade throws up her arms. “Honestly though, I think he was bummed in general because he was seeing so much less of Luke at that time. Luke was working overtime, as you know, so that he could go on his honeymoon. And well, that just left them both really, really cranky.”

Really, really cranky was the perfect way to describe how Noah increasingly felt. What he loved was spending time with Luke, cuddling, preferably naked. What he loved was not trekking all over Oakdale for yet another “perfect” location.

It would have been okay really, if wedding planning stayed confined to Saturdays. Noah had made peace with that. But Alison called one Sunday and Noah made the mistake of picking up. Jade called Luke on a Monday and he made the same mistake. A one-time thing, _promise_ , turned into a steady-timed thing and soon their weeks were filled with more wedding planning days than not.

Noah dozed off on one particular trip. He was barely sleeping, what with last minute preps for his showcase and his work hours at WOAK, he was just about surviving. Luke slumped against him, hair tickling his cheek. It was nice, the rhythm of the car rocking them into slumber, the smell of each other in the backseats. It was nice until the rhythm jerked to a stop, Jade’s voice cutting through their haze in a singsong lilt. “Morning, love birds! We’re here.”

Luke wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and groaned. Noah blinked hard, groaned. “If wedding planning were my full time job…” Luke ran his hands over his hair and began to grump.

“Well, it’s not. You have me!” Alison beamed at him before stepping out of the car.

Jade gave a happy gasp as she followed.

Luke and Noah stumbled out after the girls. One look at the bed and breakfast and both of them promptly got back into the car, the slams of the doors their answer. They fell into each other's arms, gravitating by default. They weren’t naked, no, but for the time’s being, there was at least cuddling.

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 8: Choosing the Cake**

“I just want to say, Noah, sweetheart, I’m sorry.” Ruth stares steadily into the camera the way that she has, a bit unnervingly, like she could see through to your soul. “We shouldn’t have pushed you into choosing our favorite cake instead of yours. I know that you were only thinking of your lover Luke.”

Off-camera, Faith coughs.

“Are you quite all right, young lady?”

“Fine! I’m…fine.”

“It was the word ‘lovers,’ wasn’t it?” Ruth soul-stares again, “Oh, you shouldn’t be ashamed, Faith. Sex is sex. Our bodies are beautiful and meant to be shared in the intimacy of a relationship.”

“Of course, Ms. Wilson,” Faith sputters and tries to direct this conversation back on track. “So, you were saying? About the cake?”

“Oh, right, it was four of us against my poor nephew. I’m ashamed to say it but we might have bullied him a little into getting the cake we wanted.”

Bullied was quite the right word. Luke had to work on the day of the cake-tasting trip. Or, rather, he wanted to so that he could then take a whole two weeks off for the honeymoon.

“It’s literally choosing between chocolate and sex, Noah,” Luke had said, “and I’m sorry, but I choose sex.”

“You’re sorry?” Noah nipped at Luke’s upper lips, chasing the taste of coffee, which was the perpetual taste of Luke these days, with the hours he kept.

“Sorry I can’t have both, now.” Luke gave in to the kiss, gave into the rare moment with Noah. Between the two of their workloads, they barely saw each other these days, much less have time to indulge in luxuries like kissing and cuddling and oh god, sex. He moaned into the kiss, into the perfect cup of neck and the hot mold of Noah’s body to his.

Too soon, the kiss was over and Noah was surrounded by the scents of women and the chatter they kept up all the way to the cake shop. Lily, Ruth, Maddie, and Jade were all along this time. Maddie was especially enthusiastic. “We get to try all these cakes! Isn’t it exciting?”

Noah managed a small smile. The truth was he was a bit intimidated. He had never had to make so many minute decisions in his life before. He hoped cake was easy. He liked cake. He didn’t want to associate cake with bad feelings, just with indulgence, which it was for him.

The bakery itself was encouraging, brightly lit and cleanly swept. It held a large array of cakes in all range of colors, heights and shapes.

Noah zoomed in on the chocolates while Maddie dragged the rest of the group to the other side of the shop. Noah took his time, inhaled the confectioner sugar-y smell of it all. And then he saw it. The one. The cake. The _perfect_ cake.

“That’s a beauty,” a kindly older gentleman nodded towards the cake. “Tastes good too,” he reached inside the fridge for a small slice.

“Thanks!” Noah scooped up a mouthful of bliss. Rocky road ice cream cake. Luke would love it.

The first time Noah was introduced to Luke’s bed, they took their time – all afternoon to explore what they each liked. (Luke: light biting, rimming, hearing Noah moan. Noah: being pressed into the bed, kisses everywhere, hearing Luke talk, strings of filthy promises.) Noah even got to look through baby Luke pictures. “Was this you?!” They play wrestled for it and fell into one of their most tender kisses to date. _I love you._ That was when it was first said, with Luke’s eyes and Noah hoped with his. And then Luke said it, in words, an echo, confirmation. "Same here," Noah kissed him again, kissed the words into Luke's skin. Afterwards, near dinner time, they fell laughing onto the living room couch, a bowl of rocky road ice cream cradled in each lap. It was a perfect day.

"This is perfect," Noah spoke after swallowing his bites. His plate was scraped clean.

"It's my personal favorite," the man handed Noah a brochure. "You hang on to that."

Noah took it, exchanged it for his empty plate. "Thank you." _Heavenly Hash_ , the brochure advertised, _a marriage of perfect ingredients_. It seemed like a sign. Noah smiled to himself.

Before he had a chance to tell everyone the cake is chosen, done, checked off the list, Jade rushed over to him and pulled him towards the rest of the party. "Look, Noah! We found the perfect cake! Cool Champagne is the store specialty. They always run out but we can get one if we order in advance. Isn't it pretty?"

"Luke can't drink."

Jade looked unperturbed. "There are only two glasses of champagne in this whole thing! It was safe enough for Maddie to try."

"SO good, Noah," Maddie pushed a plate towards him. "Try it. You'll know what I mean."

"But..."

"Come now, Noah," Aunt Ruth cupped his cheek fondly. "The cake is symbolic. You and Luke won't actually eat that much of it. Most of it will be consumed by your guests. Don't you want your guests to have a good time?"

"Sure, but..."

Lily stepped in, "Aw, honey, you're very sweet. But trust me, most of the alcohol has been baked off. Luke will be fine. And isn't this cake gorgeous?"

Noah shoved a forkful in his mouth to avoid answering. The cake didn't taste anywhere near as good as Heavenly Hash. 

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 9: Bridesmaid Dresses**

“It’s not Gwen’s fault,” Will makes it clear. “She was so busy in the studio, cutting her new album she was rarely even along for any of the planning. Now, I can’t speak for Maddie here…”

“Nope, you can’t,” Casey grins, making quite the picture of contentment as sunlight frames him in its halo. “Hey, Luke, man, I know you were pissed about it, but hey, it worked out in the end, right? You know we love you, and Noah, you too. In a totally platonic way.”

“Um, so guys, you wanna talk a little bit about the dresses?”Faith prompts from behind the camera.

“My wife looks hot in hers,” Casey offers.

“My wife’s not even a bridesmaid. I don’t know why I’m here.” Will takes a drink from his water bottle and shifts from leg to leg.

“You’re part of the wedding party.”

“I didn’t wear a dress.”

“Now, _that_ I’d pay to see,” Casey claps Will on the back.

“Shut up.”

“Anyway, it’s all Jade’s fault.” Casey sticks his tongue out, super mature about it all.

When the scene cuts, it cuts to Jade. “Don’t even!” She holds up a hand. “I was trying to find something that would look good on all of us. With Maddie’s pregnancy weight and the range of complexions from Ameera’s to mine to Maddie, it was hard, okay? I mean, I am sorry I didn’t try harder but it wasn’t as black and white as it all being my fault, _Casey_.”

When the camera lens finds Ameera, she looks slightly owlish as she blinks into the frame. “I have to agree with Jade. To find a style and color that flattered all of us was not easy. Back in Iraq, we had our clothes custom made. But Jade and Maddie liked shopping. So we went shopping. A lot.”

A lot was obviously not enough. Or maybe a lot was too much. In any case, Jade called Noah one Tuesday – note: Tuesday was not Saturday; Tuesday was three days removed from Saturday – to say, “Noah, oh good, I caught you! So, you should know, we had a crisis with the bridesmaid dresses. The colors aren’t gonna work. But don’t worry about it, okay? We’ve got it covered. ‘k, talk to you later!”

Noah stared at the phone, dial tone emitting steadily in his hand, and sank his head onto the keyboard in front of him. If he banged his head a little bit, well, it was the only banging he was doing these days.

**Planning The Wedding  
Part 10: The Guest List Revisited**

Dusty looks distracted, the city bustling behind him with its blur of movements – waiters with trays, streaks of lights on cars, the quiet stretch of a pencil dress as its owner sits. There’s even a startled dove sprinting half way up into the sky. Dusty fidgets, adjusting his tie, and stares down at his laptop again. “You’re looking good, Faith.”

“And I’m glad you’re nowhere near my mom, Dusty. But that’s not why we’re Skyping right now.”

Dusty lifts an eyebrow and chuckles to himself. “Okay, we’ll move on. I’ll just address Noah?”

She gives him a nod.

He nods back and melts into a smile. “Noah buddy, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your wedding. I really, really wish I could have walked you down the aisle with your aunt Ruth, but circumstances –” he offers up his palms. “I wanted to say congratulations. I’m proud of you. And I’m happy for you. Married! That’s – that’s something. Be happy and save a piece of cake for me, all right? Talk to you soon. Oh! And check your mail.” Dusty signs off with a wink.

Things were less of the winking variety when Noah first received news that Dusty couldn’t make it. First of all, the day was already shot. Somehow between Lucinda, Aunt Ruth, and Damian, the guest list had grown to 502. Noah was trying to wrap his head around that. Five hundred and two could have been a graduation, a church congregation, a small military base. Five hundred and two people were invited, not to mention all their plus ones.

And then Dusty had called. Noah was so happy to see his name on the caller ID. So happy that was, until he heard the news. When he had ended the call, his face was a tight, unreadable mask. Will couldn’t have possibly caught onto what happened. Otherwise he wouldn’t have asked if he could invite Gwen’s band as well.

Noah shrugged, his whole body deflating. “Whatever. Dusty can’t make it. And it’s not like it's my wedding anyway.” And he walked out of the apartment.

“What did he mean?” Luke sounded deceptively calm. He scratched his palms and tensed with worry. Noah didn’t do rude, not like that, not to a whole roomful of people, and certainly not to his aunt. Luke stared hard at Jade, because she was standing the closest.

“Um,” Jade bit her lips and spilled the whole gory story – how they’ve changed the colors and the cake and the flowers and the –

“What the fuck, Jade?” Luke exploded, pacing now. “Oh, shit. I should have known Noah didn’t mean it when he said everything was fine.” Luke pulled on his hair. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to fix this. We’re going have a nice little wedding, two hundred guests top. We’re going to stick to our color scheme. We’re going to get Noah’s cake –”

“We can’t actually return the cake we ordered…” Alison started tentatively.

“Then we’re getting two cakes! I don’t care. Let’s see, what else…” 

By the time Luke was done, he had shamed them all into action. “Also, you are all coming to Noah’s film showcase, no exceptions. It’s his first big show and he’s nervous and he’s been working his butt off. And just – all of you come support him, please. And bring as many people as you can.”

He kicked them all out of the apartment after that. He kicked a chair too, for good measure. And god, he really had to find Noah.

The bench. Of course Noah was at their bench in the middle of Old Town. They have had many a brood here. They have had many a flirt here too. Luke couldn’t help a fond smile before walking up and touching Noah on his shoulder. “Hey.”

Noah jerked his head up. “Hey.” His frown didn’t ease.

Luke sat and twisted his hands together, wondering about how to start. For all that they have always said that he was the one with words, sometimes Luke felt he didn’t have enough of them, in good enough an order.

Noah was the first to speak. “Do you think this is a sign? That it’s all a mistake?”

“What? What do you mean?” Luke couldn’t help the first prickle of fear in his spine, straight ice.

“This. Getting married. We were good before. We were great, _fantastic_ , and now… I hardly see you. I wake up before you do and you come to bed after I’m asleep. Do you even remember the last time we really kissed?”

“Of _course_ I do.”

“And I was thinking about the Colonel and my mom,” Noah barreled on. “They were in love once. I know that. I’ve seen the photos. But he killed her. He _killed_ his wife.”

“ _Noah_ ,” Luke gripped his hands. “Your parents were an anomaly, not, not the norm.”

“What if _I’m_ an anomaly too?”

“Noah, you’re _not_ your dad.” Luke took in the dubious expression on Noah’s face and kept going. “And many marriages are just fine. Look at Casey and Maddie, okay? I mean, they’ve just started but they’re crazy in love, just like before. And look at _my_ parents. Or, well, they’re not the best example, but you know what I mean.”

“But marriages don’t make things better. I mean, I don’t know how things could have gotten better than what we had. So, what’s the point?”

Luke felt his face flame. Anger rose in him too, especially in not knowing how to answer Noah. He still felt like Noah was wrong though. He had to be. Marriage was supposed to be a good thing, a happy thing. Right?

“The point is, we’ll be legally bound,” Luke jerked his hand back, out of Noah’s hands. “And you made a promise – we’ll be making a – You know what?” Luke threw up his hands and stood. “You’re angry about Dusty not making it. And I’m sorry, baby, I really am. But for fuck’s sake, don’t take it out on me. I love you. You’re supposed to love me too, damn it.” And with that, Luke stormed off.

Noah didn’t come back to their apartment that night. Luke wrapped his arms around himself and tried not to cry. So it was the first night they’ve spent apart in years. So Noah hadn’t texted or called or anything. Didn’t mean Luke lost him. Noah loved him. Luke knew this. Noah still loved him, right?

In the morning, Luke woke to Noah’s face propped up on the mattress, staring at him. Luke reached out before he could help it, touched the stubbled chin in greeting.

“I love you so much.” Noah turned his face, pressed a kiss into Luke’s palm. “I’m sorry I was an idiot yesterday. Ameera told me I had to come back and grovel.”

Luke chuckled, really feeling like crying now. What was his life that Ameera wasn’t annoying anymore? “I’m listening.”

Noah laughed. “That – that right there. You’re such a brat but you’re the most kind and loving brat anyone could ever wish for. Luke, I- I never want to be with anyone else. You’re it for me. And I want to marry you, if you’d still have me.”

“Is that a proposal?”

Noah ducked his head. “I know. This is lame. Your proposal to me was better. I mean – I have - the flowers are in the living room and I was going to give you the ring and ask you properly, but clearly I’m-”

Luke slipped a hand around the back of Noah’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss, a joyful, smile-filled sort of kiss. “Yes,” he said between kisses. “Yes.”

Noah couldn’t help smiling back. “Yeah? You haven’t even seen the ring.”

Luke nipped him and dragged him up to bed. “Later. I have something for you too. But later.” Their clothes fell off of them like promises. _Yes. Always. For you I will._

Later, Luke showed Noah the carefully folded brochure that he had found in Noah’s video editing room. _Heavenly Hash_ , it advertised. “It’s the perfect cake, baby. We’re going to eat the heck out of it.”

“You’re so hot.” Noah kissed Luke’s neck. 

Luke didn’t disagree, just let him back him up against the wall. “If I knew cake got you hot…” 

**Noah’s Film Showcase**

“Hi sweetheart,” Holden settles into his chair.

“Hi dad.”

Holden smiles fondly at the camera. “It’s like I get to be a new dad again, with Noah. Your mom and I - we got lucky with you kids. You and your brothers and sisters and – we have Noah now, too.”

Holden shakes his head, like he couldn’t believe it. “I’m so proud of you all. Luke – remember years ago we had that talk by the tractor, about how you just wanted someone to love, someone to hold hands with and go dancing with? I’m so happy you found him. And he’s a keeper, son. Noah – we’re so proud of you, too. You keep surprising us. When we first met, you called me ‘sir’ and ‘Mr. Snyder’ and was so afraid of anyone figuring out how gone you were for Luke. But just between you and me? I knew.” Holden gives a conspiratory wink.

“What I didn’t know was how talented and driven you were. But I got the privilege of finding that out for myself. You have grown so much, Noah. Your showcase tonight showed me that. In the way you carried yourself with the crowd, with Luke. I heard you introduce him as your fiancé more than once tonight. Three years ago, I know you couldn’t have done that, not in the company of strangers. And that’s how I know you’ll make it. You and Luke. You push each other to be better. I want that for my son,” Holden pauses, “son.”

What Holden didn’t know was that Luke was falling in love with Noah all over again that night. It was a quiet sort of thing, not flashy like lightning but more subtle, more like the rhythm of waves washing up on shore, washing up on home.

Luke got to work early in the evening, pulling Will and (god help him) Ameera aside as he conveyed his plan. Will grumbled – “Dude, are you serious? Now?” – but then pulled him in for a tight hug. Ameera kissed him on his cheek. Luke didn’t know which one of them was more surprised.

It didn’t even matter that Tony showed up not five minutes later and held Noah’s hand again in a too-long handshake. (After all, Tony spotted Reg in the next moment and followed Reg around the rest of the night.)

Eventually, the guests drained the last of the champagne and flowed out of the studio space. Eventually he got a moment alone with Noah.

“Tonight’s a good night,” Luke started.

“Really good night,” Noah leaned on him, kissing his temple. “I can’t believe all those people showed up.”

“Hmmm, I can.” Luke walked Noah out at a leisurely pace. “I’m so proud of you, Noah.”

They walked, almost on automatic, towards their pond. Noah’s tie was half undone and Noah’s tongue was loose, a little bit from the alcohol, a little bit from the high of his first show. “- it’s amazing and then the Andersons –”

Luke let him ramble on, enjoying his enjoyment so much. When they get to their pond, there was a bench there by the water. It was their bench, not that Luke mentioned it just then. Noah didn’t bat a lash as he sat. The bench looked like it belonged there.

Noah melted into the seat, sighing in contentment as he stretched his legs out. “I didn’t notice how tired my legs were.”

“All that standing.”

“Hmmm,” Noah hummed in agreement. When he leaned over for a kiss, it was a slow sort of thing too, like the start of a water color, a dot and then a spread of colors.

And then a voice sounded behind them. “Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here today…”

Noah looked behind him at the makeshift wedding party – Will and his wife Gwen, Maddie and Casey, and Ameera – and looked back at Luke and the pond and the night and understood. Luke was giving him his perfect wedding.

They wore their rings to bed that night. The metal felt new against their skin as they touched and kissed and as amazingly Noah’s legs got all the energy back in them. 

**The (Official) Wedding**

Faith is the videographer at Luke and Noah wedding, their “official” wedding. But she doesn’t get to witness this scene. No one does.

It may be the morning of the wedding but it is two A.M., first of all. Secondly, Luke and Noah are wrapped around each other, naked and sleep warm. They fell asleep like this, after their seventh consecutive wedding night. Their lovemaking has changed, slightly. It is more now, somehow, their rings and the ring of the word ‘husband’ spurring them on.

Maybe it has a little to do with the possessive streak in them. “My husband,” Noah growl-kisses it into the soft of Luke’s lips, the scratch of Luke’s chin, the pulse of Luke’s neck. 

“Me too. I mean, you - you’re – nnngh - mine,” Luke arches up into Noah, wrapping a leg tighter around Noah’s hip as they line up, the friction not nearly enough.

Noah sucks kisses onto Luke’s skin, small red impressions like a burst of constellations. He lingers by the crease of a thigh, licking circles there, milking all the noise he could out of Luke. He loves this – that Luke is so open to him, to whatever with him, that Luke trusts him wholly. Noah licks a stripe, lazily, up the length of Luke’s cock. Noah licks his way down, still slow. He sucks his fingers wet and just traces at the tight ring to hear Luke keening. And then he presses his tongue there, pushes against the push. His hands roam free. They guide Luke’s thighs further apart. One slides up the hard, velvety length, giving it lazy strokes. The other circles Luke’s nipple, one and then the next. His tongue stays playful, pretending be a sword one moment, pretending to be a ball the next, rolling against the walls of Luke. His nose noses at actual balls.

Luke grabs at the sheets, cursing, begging. “ _Fuck, please._ ” 

When Noah failed to comply, just keeps licking and stroking, Luke yanks on his hair. “C’mon. _God_.”

Noah chuckles into Luke’s skin. “As you wish,” he reaches for the supplies and isn’t at all surprised when Luke takes over. In his sleepy state, Luke slicked the lube straight onto Noah’s cock. They both stop to breathe deep.

“Yes,” Luke kisses Noah. “I want – like this.”

“Yes,” Noah kisses him back and cages him down onto the mattress. He runs the head of his cock against Luke, just to make sure everything was slick enough, ready enough.

“I’m not marrying you if you don’t –”

Noah pushes in and kisses Luke’s words away. “Too late. Already mine.”

Sensations wash over them. It’s not that sex wasn’t good before. It’s just that it keeps getting better somehow. This here, with nothing between them, feels like more contact, more skin, more weight, more pulse, more heat.

“I want you to fuck me like this tonight,” Noah presses a kiss to Luke’s knee. “God, this feels - I’m gonna come.”

Luke doesn’t answer him, doesn’t seem capable, which is something of a miracle in itself. He pushes his shoulders into the bed and arches up to ride Noah as much as he could. And then he’s coming, spilling with nothing on his cock, just Noah and his promises.

They slide down together from their high, Noah’s lips finding Luke’s, Luke’s tongue finding Noah’s. “I love you.”

Morning finds them still smiling.

They couldn’t stop smiling even when a hundred more guests than expected show up at the Lakeview for their wedding. (Eh, more gifts.) Even when someone they’re pretty sure is paparazzi drops into the crowd and snaps a bazillion pictures. (Great, free photos.) Or when two bands show up at the reception at Snyder pond and both insist on playing. (More dance opportunities!)

They get a little horrified, however, when they bump into Reg and Tony making out in a closet at the farm. (“Oh! Guess we have to find a different – yeah, we’ll just – bye!”) Catching Aunt Ruth with Damian is even more traumatic. (“Oh god, I need brain bleach.” “Pass it over.”)

Still, Luke and Noah survive the day. They have to. After all, they have the night and their second honeymoon to look forward to. They have the rest of their lives.

**_Epilogue_ **

Three years later, Illinois legalizes gay marriage. Luke and Noah invite their family and friends once again to a nice dinner at the Lakeview. In their circle now is Tony. Or, Reg's Tony as he's sometimes called, to distinguish him from Ameera's new boyfriend Tony, who is a totally different person.

Dusty is still on the phone with Noah, the quality of reception clearly not improved as Noah keeps saying, “hello? Can you hear me now?” like a cell phone commercial.

Reg and Tony are touching more than usual, Tony almost practically in Reg’s lap as half the table stares openly at them. “Let’s tell everyone!” Tony nudges his forehead against Reg like a pony.

Luke raises an eyebrow in their general direction. Reg is as red as he gets. “What is it?” Luke prompts as he rubs a comforting circle on Noah’s back.

Maddie and Casey’s daughter coos and slaps the table, delighted with everything.

“We’re getting married!” Tony lets it out. “Look!” He shows everyone the ring.

“Aww,” the table erupts into coos and Maddie and Casey’s daughter squeals, upending a fork and sending it flying into a glass of water, which splashes on Ameera, of course. Her Tony dabs at her this time is the difference, and she laughs when he wipes down her side, tickling her.

“Dusty?” Noah is still trying on the phone. “Yes, no legal problems. It’s actually a good legal thing. Luke and I are getting married again, legally this time.” He says it loud enough that the table pauses in their congratulations to Reg and Tony to stare at him.

“Double wedding!” Someone shouts. It sounds suspiciously like Jade.

_The End_

~*~

**Alison’s Notes:**  
 _For Luke and Noah’s Wedding:_  
 **Colors:** pastel green, light blue, chocolate  
 **Flowers:** forget-me-not; means “true love”  
 **Flower Girl:** Natalie Snyder  
 **Ring Bearer:** Ethan Snyder  
 **Wedding Party:** Maddie, Casey, Will, Jade, Ameera, Reginald  
 **Caterer:** Al’s Diner  
 **Cakes:** Heavenly Hash  & Cool Champagne  
 **Videographer:** Faith Snyder  
 **Photographer:** everyone; Polaroid cameras at every table  
 **Invitations:**

Together with our families,  
Luciano E. Snyder and Noah W. Mayer  
invite you to share in our wedding day.  
Saturday | 3-24-2012 | 4 o’clock  
Lakeview Hotel * Oakdale, Illinois

~ Cake and dancing to follow at the Snyder Pond ~

**Vows:**  
Luke:  
Love is a gift that lacks meaning until it’s shared. I, Luke Snyder, see in you, Noah Mayer, the love that I’m truly blessed to know, the life that I’m sure we’ll be blessed to have together. I take you here today, in front of two hundred of our closest family and friends, as my partner, my love, my husband. I promise to be your biggest fanboy, to be there when you need me and okay, even when you don’t. I promise to love you always.

Noah:  
I’ll start with same here, because I’m sure you said all the words I mean, Luke. I love you. I don’t think I learned what love meant until I met you. You are the best partner anyone can ask for, and I, Noah Mayer, am honored to take you, Luke Snyder, as my husband today, to love for the rest of my days, for always.

~*~

**Author's Note:**

>   * The first part of Luke’s vow is the vow Luke wrote on the show for Noah and Ameera’s wedding. It has been altered here to include Luke and Noah’s names, the way it was truly meant. 
>   * January 12th is the date on the show that Luke and Noah really had sex for the first time. 
>   * March 24th is the date on the show that Luke and Noah signed the lease together.
> 

> 
> So, a while ago frances_veritas recommended [this Merlin fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/335418) to me and mentioned that she wanted a Luke/Noah version of the story. Moey even had half the characters casted and everything! And her casting was so perfect that I started thinking of other people to cast as well. And then eventually, it grew into this. I tried to diverge from the original fic as much as possible, with changes in POVs, in the details in plot, etc. but this fic is definitely based on/inspired by the Merlin fic rec'ed to me. Thanks for rec'ing the fic, Moey and for reading over the first try of this adaptation and for all your encouragements!
> 
> Many, many thanks also to my lovely beta jackie_oh for making this tons better with her corrections and suggestions. Any remaining mistakes are mine alone.
> 
> As I’ve told my wonderful artist (Steph and I are both firmly on team elopement!), this is the most wedding planning I’ve ever done! Only for you, Luke and Noah. :P Much thanks to Steph for her support throughout and asking perfect questions to help flesh out the details of the wedding. Not to mention the gorgeous art, which [go check it out now](http://ladysonsie.livejournal.com/50078.html)!


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